The holidays are a time when many people spend a bit more than they should.  The joy of gift giving during the Christmas season makes people dig a little deeper when shopping.  Physical store locations create beautiful window displays that capitalize on the season.  Online sellers should do to same.  Integrating Christmas imagery in your existing sales website can help you to increase your sales this holiday season.  There are several different ways to add a Christmas feel to your site, and you should employ them all.

1. Change the overall theme – most websites are designed so that certain elements remain the same from page to page.  This is referred to as the theme of the site.  Change the theme to reflect a holiday spirit, to get shoppers in the right frame of mind.  Christmas imagery like decorations, wrapped presents, holiday lights or a Christmas tree are all possible examples.
2. Place sale items in the forefront – make sure to highlight your sale items and include information about their potential as gifts.  Draw a strong connection between your sale items and holiday giving.
3. Colour scheme is crucial – any other time of the year, a subdued colour palate can be used to create a feeling of warmth, but for Christmas, bright colours act as an attraction.  You do not need to stick with traditional red and green, but bright colours that compliment each other are a must.
4. Create a Christmas logo – while all of your products should be sold under your regular logo, a special holiday design can capture imaginations.  Many large retailers use a different holiday exclusive design each year.  Stay on top of trends and find something that tickles the funny bone or warms the heart of the average consumer.
5. Offer services specific to the holiday – including services like gift wrapping and drop shipping are a solid choice as part of your holiday campaign.  Include vivid advertisements that demonstrate the ease of shopping on your site.  Let consumers know that your site is truly a one stop shopping location.

These strategies can help to boost final quarter sales by encouraging additional holiday spending.  Giving consumers a visual reminder of the season and using subtle reinforcement like the overall colour scheme and logo design will help put them in the shopping mood.  You can not give them the opportunity to hold a product prior to purchase, but you can give them a festive atmosphere in which to shop.  Thoughtful use of animations is a great addition to any holiday website, and paying attention to the hot gifts of the season will help you to determine the best items to put up for sale.

Thanks!

Sean

Internet Marketing Academy

Internet Marketing Training – Internet Marketing Course – Internet Marketing Blog

One of the big truths about the Internet and what is has done for society is that it has reinforced the NOW.  Browsers want everything now, now, now.  The accessibility of information and access to instant shopping and conversation has made the Internet all about speed.  The biggest hurdle many businesses face with online sales is a slow loading web page.  When you design a web page, it must be flawless and fast.  Slow load times means that browsers have already closed the page.  You have ten seconds or less to engage a customer, and if your page takes longer than that to load, say good bye to the sales opportunity.  Businesses definitely don’t want to be the tortoise when it comes to web page load times, the cheetah would be a much better example.  Slow and steady may get the job done in the end, but quick and complete is more in keeping with consumer demand.  If you are unsure how to create a quick loading page below are some tips to help you get started.

1. Optimise and Watch the Size of Graphics.  There are ways to compress pictures for web display, and you can also chop an image so that it can load in pieces.  Either method can improve your load times.  Sometimes pictures are an essential part of web design, so good web programmers have created methods to give you quality images in record times.  Chopping an image and loading the pieces as part of a table allow you to display the entire image much more quickly, and reducing the size of the image keeps quality high and load time low.
2. Limit the Number of Graphics Per Page.  Images are very slow to load.  Even optimised and chopped images can create slow downs on page loading.  To keep these delays minimal, it is important to keep the number of graphics displayed per page low.
3. Avoid Special Effects.  Yes, special effects can sometimes draw customer interest, but the fact is that most customers will be more interested in clean design, fast load times and quality content.  If you have good content, you don’t need flashy effects.

Give your customers the maximum amount of time to browse your site.  Online attention spans are very short, so maximise the time you have by reducing the load times for your pages.

Thanks!

Sean

Internet Marketing Academy

Internet Marketing Training – Internet Marketing Course – Internet Marketing Blog

It’s one thing to have a “pretty” website. However, it’s another thing to have a site that builds trust in the prospect.

Here are 5 elements you should have on your website that builds trust.  These tips would work great for a homepage-style website that’s the face of a company.

1) Testimonials

People only buy from vendors they trust. If you have proof that other people have obtained the benefits they are looking for through your product/service.  Having plenty of testimonials on your site can boost credibility.

2) Case Studies

These are testimonials that are more involved and go into more detail. Case studies are in general more credible since they include more information regarding how the prospect obtained the desired benefits.

3) A Phone Number

Most websites do not have phone contact information. Just having a phone number people can call builds credibility since most people consider a “real” business to have a phone number. These days, you can get an online phone number for very cheap through Skype and other online services.

4) “About Me” Page

The more you tell about yourself the more you’ll sell. Like I mentioned before, people only buy from people they trust and they want to know if you are qualified to help them with their problem or desire.

5) Links To Your Blog And Social Media Accounts

Having a blog and social media accounts via Twitter and Facebook shows you are active in your niche and aren’t just a “fly-by-night” operation.  It also gives people another way to keep up with you as well.

Trust and credibility is extremely important now more than ever–especially in today’s competitive marketplace. These tips could boost your conversions if you implement them on your website!

Live, Love, Laugh!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Internet Marketing Academy

So having a good “about me” page is critical to getting sales!

There are several things you need to have on your website if prospects are going to do business with you.  Very often, many marketers leave this off their website or making it confusing to the visitor.

Here are 4 things prospect want to see on your website. If you are missing any of these 4 or you don’t think it’s clear on your site, then you need to make it clear.

1) Social Proof

Words on a website mean nothing if there isn’t any social proof on your site to show potential customers other people have achieved the benefits they are looking for.  You need to have testimonials or case studies on your site as proof that you know what you’re talking about.

2) Clear Navigation

You should have clear navigation for the visitor to go wherever she wants on the site without having to hunt around forever to find it. Usually these should go along the top or side of the website.  Don’t confuse your visitor, this could lead to them disappearing from your site.

3) Clear Contact Information

People like to see name, address, and phone number on the site at the bottom.   Or an obvious “contact” link.  They like the fact they can contact you if they have questions  about the product or a problem with a purchase.

4) Clear Value Proposition

Why should they buy your widget instead of the other companies? You need to make this clear above the fold on your website.  Don’t make your visitor hunt for this, you need to make this prominent because they want to know what’s in it for them.

And do not go on and on about how you’ve been in business for 34 years and how long your company has been open.  Customers don’t care about this, they want to know what you’re going to do for them.

If you have these 4 things on your website, you have automatically boosted trust for your site visitor and that increases the chance they will do business with you.

Live, Love, Laugh!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Internet Marketing Academy